by Donna Grant
Ian shook his head. He liked her sarcasm and the way she teased. Despite their situation, she smiled and kept going. A trait that made the Highland people who they were. She also had valor befitting the bravest of warriors.
“What is a cocktail dress?” he asked.
“A dress meant for a party, but not a formal get-together. It’s usually reserved for nighttime.”
“Ah, I see.” All too well. “Who is the man you were meeting?”
Danielle gave a bark of laughter. “Ian, I hate to be the one to tell you, but dating in the twenty-first century is a spectacular joke. Men don’t know how to be men, and then you have the ones who just won’t take a hint and go away.”
“Which was it for your party?”
“The one who wouldn’t take a hint. Me and my flatmates, Whitney and Clair, were supposed to go out and ring in the New Year together.”
He paused and turned to look at her. “What?”
She laughed, her smile brightening her face. “People usually get together when one year ends and another begins. It’s called ringing in the New Year. I was going to such a party.”
“Hm,” Ian said and resumed his walking. “What happened?”
“Wouldn’t you know, my flatemates’ boyfriends finally stepped up and acted like gentlemen? Since it was a large group going out, I kept my plans with the others. Then one by one people began to back out until it was just me and Mitchell left.”
Ian already didn’t like this Mitchell. “What did he do?”
“Nothing. I knew he wanted more than friendship. He had for over a year now, and he’d made it known several times.”
“Was there something wrong with him?”
“No, actually, he’s a good-looking guy with a great job.”
“Job?” Ian asked with a frown. He had so much to catch up on in this new time.
“It’s what one does to earn money.”
Ian had a little coin, but it was at the castle. “Mitchell was handsome with a good job. What was wrong with him?”
“There was no spark,” she said with a sigh. “I tried to make one, I tried to talk myself into dating him. But Mitchell is the kind of guy you don’t just date. He’s the kind of guy you marry, and I knew I wouldn’t be marrying him. So, I never let it get beyond friendship.”
Ian listened attentively. He was learning a lot about Danielle that he might not otherwise know. “How did Mitchell react?”
“Badly. Since it was just the two of us going out he had set up a nice dinner. I knew I had to tell him no before the night began or he’d never let up. He was disappointed and a tad angry. I suppose I would be as well.”
Ian crested a mountain and paused to help Danielle up beside him.
“Wow,” she said with awe. “This is stunning.”
Ian looked over the vista and smiled. “There’s no’ another place like it on earth. I doona think I could live anywhere else.”
With his enhanced eyesight he caught a glimpse of a town. Ian continued on, and Danielle paused a moment longer before she followed him.
Ian knew he should be focusing all his concentration on keeping Farmire in check. There had been a few times that day when he’d felt Farmire shift inside him, his voice loud in Ian’s mind. But Ian had focused on Danielle and what he needed to do. It had kept Farmire at bay. For the time being.
That wouldn’t last.
Danielle’s safety was paramount. Ian would never forgive himself if he harmed her because he’d been too weak to control his god.
Somehow she allowed him a measure of power over Farmire. How long his god would let that continue, Ian wasn’t sure. Farmire had gotten a foothold in Ian’s mind, and he wouldn’t be content until Ian had fallen to him.
Ian looked up and found the sky had begun to darken.
“Did you spend the evening with Mitchell?” Ian was a fool to ask, but he had to know.
“No. He said he couldn’t go out if I only wanted to be friends. I left his flat and was on my way to my car when I fell and found the key.”
“You didna go to your … flat … and change?”
“The key wouldn’t let me, remember? I started out right then with only the knowledge that I had to go east to find MacLeod Castle.”
“How did you end up in the mountains?”
She sighed and moved up beside him when the snow grew more packed. “There was a wreck. That’s how I got the cut on my head. The people who hit my car both died, and in the collision my mobile phone was broken. I thought the key would tell me which way to go, but it was strangely quiet.”
“So you just set out?”
“No,” she said with a short laugh. “I have an awful time with direction, and after the accident I wasn’t sure where anything was. When I hit my head I passed out for a while and the snow covered everything. I thought I took the road, but apparently I didn’t because I ended up in the mountains.”
“It’s a good thing I found you. Those wyrran would have taken you to Deirdre.”
She shuddered and blew out a breath. “It’s almost like it was fate.”
Ian nodded, unsure if he believed in anything like destiny. He’d always thought a man made his own way in the world, but maybe he’d been wrong all those years. Maybe there was such a thing as fate.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
“Look,” Danielle said as she pointed. “I see lights from a village.”
“We’ll be there by nightfall.”
Ian hid a smile when Danielle quickened her pace. He knew she was cold, and despite her not saying anything, he knew her feet had to be hurting.
Not only were the boots not well insulated, the heels made it difficult to climb the rocky slopes of the mountains. He knew she had twisted her ankle several times along the way.
He couldn’t wait to throw away the boots as soon as he could. If she continued to wear them she was likely to break her ankle.
Though he did have to admit he liked the way her legs looked in the high heels. Stilettos, she had called them. It was no wonder women wore them then. They certainly caught men’s attention.
They reached the small village almost an hour after the sun had set.
“An inn,” Danielle said with a tired smile. “Let’s get our rooms first.”
Ian followed her to the inn that looked as if it had indeed been around for four hundred years. There were traces of something new, but whoever owned it had gone to great pains to keep the original look.
When they entered the inn Ian scanned the front room and the dining room within. He didn’t detect anything that might put Danielle at risk of harm.
“We need two rooms,” Danielle told the woman behind the counter.
“One,” Ian said without glancing at her.
Danielle leaned away from the counter until she caught his eye. “One?” she asked, a blond brow raised.
“One.”
She sighed but said, “We’ll need one room.”
“Just fill this out,” the woman said.
Ian peered through the windows and surveyed everything around him. He needed to get outside and take a look around.
“Ian? Are you ready?”
He turned at Danielle’s voice to find her at the foot of the stairs. With a nod to the woman behind the counter, he followed Danielle.
“I’ve coin.”
She shook her head. “I’m afraid to ask what type of coin it is. Don’t worry. I’ve enough money.”
“I doona like a woman paying for me.”
She put the key in the door and laughed as it unlocked. “Welcome to my time, Ian. Get used to it, because quite a bit has changed.”
He wasn’t sure he liked hearing that, but there was nothing he could do as they stepped into the room. The door shut behind him and he watched Danielle walk to the bed and fall backward on it.
“We should get you some clothes and food.”
Danielle rose up on her elbows. “We should probably get you some clothes as well.”
“I know.” She spoke softly as she sat up. “There are many who still wear kilts. It is Scotland after all.”
Ian took a step toward her and paused when something flashed in the corner of his eye. There was a light shining above him that was not fire, and as amazing as that was, it was nothing compared to the huge mirror he looked into.
And what he saw made him grimace. Maybe Danielle was right. Maybe he did need new clothes. He had caught a glimpse of what others had been wearing in the dining room. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to wear, but it was needed.
“Is there a place we can get new clothes?”
Danielle raised a brow at his words. She hadn’t expected him to give in, and after the look on his face when she mentioned it, she hadn’t planned on pushing the issue. “Yes. The receptionist told me there’s a store just up the road.”
“Do you want to go later?”
She rose from the bed and grabbed her purse. “Let’s go now.”
As they left the room, she looped her arm through his and saw his start of surprise. She had forgotten how old-fashioned he was. “Sorry,” she said and dropped her arm.
“Nay,” Ian said as he took her arm and looped it back around his. “I just didna expect your touch.”
The feel of his large, warm hand over hers sent chills racing over her skin. How could such a simple touch turn her stomach to jelly?
She found herself walking next to him, wanting and needing his heat. Not because she was cold. But because of him. There was something altogether fascinating about Ian Kerr. And she liked it.
Part of it could be because he was an immortal Warrior who had time-traveled to her time.
But she suspected a lot of it was because of who Ian was as a man. He exuded confidence in a way she had never seen before. He wasn’t cocky or self-absorbed. He knew what he could do without question.
And other men noticed it as well.
She’d seen the looks he got when they walked into the inn. The men had sized him up and immediately knew not to mess with Ian.
While the women had all begun to drool over his physique.
Not that she could blame them. She’d looked her fair share at his nice backside the entire journey from his cave. It was the reason she had tripped so many times.
Ian commanded attention. He defied temptation with his sultry sherry gaze that warmed her from the inside out.
If he knew what he did to her, she’d be completely at his mercy. Because she couldn’t deny the attraction she felt for him, nor did she want to.
She had waited so long to feel something for a man. Now that she had, it most likely would never work. But at least she knew she could feel something. She wasn’t the cold person Mitchell and other men thought her to be.
“Are you all right?” Ian asked.
Danielle nodded and tried to keep her eyes away from his toned arm muscles. “Just a wee tired.”
They walked out of the inn and to the right where the receptionist had told her the store was. Just as Danielle had expected, it wasn’t much more than a sporting goods store.
Yet, they sold exactly what she would need.
“Ready for this?” she asked Ian with a grin.
“It can no’ be as bad as fighting Deirdre, can it?”
Danielle laughed as she pulled open the door and stepped inside. She watched as Ian looked over everything, his brow furrowing in either confusion or bewilderment. Or both.
Ian stayed close as she pulled out jeans for both her and him.
“Why so many?” he asked as they piled up in his arms.
“Are you kidding? Jeans are all made differently. I know my size, but depending on how these are made, they’ll fit differently. I hate buying jeans for just this reason. And not to mention, I can take five pairs of the same size into the dressing room and all of them will fit differently.”
“It was easier in my time,” Ian mumbled.
Danielle chuckled as she pulled one last pair out and put it into his arms. Next they moved to the sweaters. She found a navy cable knit that she liked, but when she looked at men’s sweaters for Ian he stopped her.
“I doona want something that heavy.”
She looked away from him and glanced outside. “It’s snowing. Aren’t you cold?”
He shook his head. “I’m a Warrior, remember.”
They settled for a plaid flannel button-down in a pattern similar to his kilt. However, it wasn’t until they were heading to the dressing rooms that she noticed Ian’s clenched jaw.
She put a hand on his arm to halt him. “What is it?”
“Remember when I told you I didna have control of my god?” he asked between clenched teeth.
Danielle dropped her arm. “Yes.”
“He’s wanting free.”
“Oh.” What did she say to that? “What can I do?”
He hastily looked around. “I need away. Somewhere safe.”
“There is nowhere safe, Ian. You’re in the middle of town. Do you think you can make it back to your cave in time?”
“Nay.”
“Then you’ll have to learn to control your god.” Danielle couldn’t believe the words came out of her mouth. She could see by the way Ian’s lips were flattened that he was obviously distressed.
His sherry gaze swung to her. “Do you think I’m jesting?”
“Not at all. I know what you can become. But I also know you came to protect me. You cannot do that if you allow your god to take control.”
Danielle winced at the harshness of her words. She wasn’t sure if her trick would work, but she had to try. Ian had had control of his god before. He could do it again.
“Danielle, you doona know what you’re asking of me.”
“I’m asking as a Druid. I’m asking because I don’t care to know what Deirdre’s mountain looks like or to get another glimpse of the wyrran. I’m asking because I have to get to the MacLeods.”
He swore under his breath and growled.
Danielle should have been startled or even wary at the sound of that growl, but she knew Ian wouldn’t harm her. She wasn’t sure, but she suspected the key might have led her to him somehow.
“You can try on your clothes in there,” she said, and pointed to the one dressing room.
He turned on his heel and entered the small room. He reached for the clasp over his heart to unpin his kilt, and as much as Danielle wouldn’t have minded seeing his glorious muscles for herself, she didn’t want the clerk to. Danielle quickly yanked the curtain closed between them as she shook her head and smiled.
The smile died however when she realized just what could happen if Ian did lose control of his god.
“I won’t let that happen,” she murmured to herself. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Who are you talking to?” Ian asked from behind the curtain.
“Myself. You know how I love to talk to myself.”
A snort was her only answer.
Danielle saw his boots hit the floor one at a time as he removed them. She expected to see his kilt next, and when she did it was folded neatly and laid gently on the floor.
Tears stung her eyes. His kilt meant everything to him. It was probably his only connection to the clan he’d once belonged to. And to his family.
The saffron shirt didn’t get the same attention. It was tossed to the floor carelessly. That’s when Danielle realized she hadn’t gotten Ian any underwear.
“Ah … Ian?”
“Aye?”
“I … um … I didn’t get you any undies.”
“Undies?” he repeated. The curtain shifted and he poked his head around it. “What are you talking about?”
“Underwear. Men—and women—wear them beneath clothes. Men can wear briefs that … um … hug the body. There’s also boxers.”
Danielle ran over to a rack and grabbed a pack to show him. Ian’s eyes crinkled at the corner
s when he saw the picture of the naked man wearing nothing but tight-fitting briefs.
“I prefer to go without,” Ian said.
The thought of Ian naked beneath his kilt, and now whatever clothes he bought, made her body heat up and her heart thud in her chest.
“Danielle?”
She jerked, startled to hear Ian’s voice so close to her. She dropped the package of briefs as she lifted her gaze to him. He caught the package before it hit the ground and put it back in her hands.
“How is this?” he asked.
Danielle let her eyes roam over the flannel shirt that fit snuggly across his broad muscled chest. He hadn’t tucked the shirt in, but it didn’t distract from his long legs encased in black denim.
“Is it that bad?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. It’s just taken me a moment to see you in anything but the kilt. Turn and let me see how the jeans fit in the back.”
“I doona think I like these jeans,” he said. He turned as she asked and shifted from one foot to the other. “I’m no’ used to my legs being so bound.”
But Danielle could certainly get used to it. “Try the next size smaller.”
“Smaller?” Ian asked as he looked at her over his shoulder. “Lass, I may no’ get them on.”
“Trust me, Ian.”
He went back behind the curtain, and a moment later returned in the next pair of jeans. They were another black pair, and they fit him to perfection.
“Wow. The girls are going to be drooling over you.”
He lifted a brow. “I take it that is good?”
“That’s what every man wants. I’ll go pick up some more jeans and a few more shirts. Want to look at the boots?”
“I’ve had enough change for one day,” he muttered.
Danielle smiled as he turned to walk back into the dressing room. “Oh, Ian? By the way, how is that control with your god coming?”
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Ian blinked and realized he had managed to maintain control over Farmire as he tried on the clothes. He wished he knew how he had done it so he could do it again, but it was enough that he had control right now.
